William Drake Spencer
'William Drake Spencer '''is the commanding officer of the Crow Tenders' Company, a mercenary company active in several European conflicts in the middle of the 17th century. Born into a closeted Catholic mercantile family, Spencer fled England at a young age after the betrayal and execution of his father, an alleged conspirator in the infamous Gunpowder Plot. Sent to live with his estranged uncle, a fellow Catholic emigrant and collaborator with the occupying Spanish forces, Spencer works with his uncle to restore Spanish control of Holland during the periodic Protestant uprisings. After his uncle's death, an aimless Spencer travels across Europe, eventually joining a renegade mercenary band that enables him to sharpen his martial and diplomatic talents. Appearance and Personality Spencer is a stocky, well-built man in his mid-fifties with brown hair, black eyes, and a prominent though-graying beard. Despite the cumulative effects of age, war wounds, and poor health, Spencer retains the stamina and athletic capacity of a man half his age. Somewhat taller-than-average at just shy of four cubits, Braddock's physical features often intimidate strangers and opponents, and his quick temper is known to startle even his closest friends. A hard-bitten veteran of several major wars and countless battles and skirmishes across the Continent, Spencer has attained a respectable legacy as an experienced soldier trained in the use of melee weapons and archery, as well as firearms. Having engaged in martial and diplomatic missions from the age of fifteen on, Spencer is well-versed in military and diplomatic matters and is capable of prudent and efficacious decision-making in tight situations, at least until his temper gets the better of him. Despite his brash and authoritative personality, Spencer is often plagued by bouts of remorse and self-doubt. Various traumatic experiences have taken a toll on his emotional characteristics as well as his outlook on the world, particularly the betrayal of his father and the near-extermination of his immediate family. He strongly distrusts strangers; on not a few occasions, he has been known to spit and hiss at passer-byes wishing him good fortune. Spencer can be warm and genial when among friends and relatives. He is fiercely-protective of his colleagues, occasionally to the point of savage brutality; he reportedly ordered the destruction of an entire village in Bohemia after one of his men was murdered in a local brothel. Though initially a fanatical Catholic and a sworn enemy of the Protestant heresy, wartime exigencies and the cumulative effects of fatigue and deprivation have undermined Spencer's faith in God and religion more generally. Though nominally-identified with the plight of the English Catholics, Spencer has quietly left the Church and developed a tentative degree of tolerance for nonbelievers and heretics, allowing men of all faiths to join his retinue and granting both Protestants and Catholics high positions in his mercenary band. Nevertheless, he retains a naive and somewhat irrational degree of trust of fellow English Catholics, reasoning that their common diasporic experience has forged an unspoken bond of trust and reciprocity. Character History Early Life William Drake Spencer was born on March 15th, 1606 to Ramsay Spencer, a prosperous shipwright from Portsmouth, and Jenna Thennsworth. Ramsay Spencer had served with distinction under Francis Drake during his famous circumnavigation of the world, having personally saved Drake from an assassination attempt by the Portuguese when raiding the Spice Islands of South Pacific. Drake's generosity and charisma during and after Ramsay's service had made a clear mark on the young tradesman, who went so far as to name his youngest son after him. Despite Ramsay Spencer's impressive service under Drake during his expeditions against the Spanish, the Spencer's Catholic faith forced him to hide their true faith from all but the most-intimate of colleagues. In the aftermath of the infamous Gunpowder Plot under the reign of James I, rising anti-Catholic sentiment had led to widespread persecution by royal inquisitors and fanatic-led mobs. Despite having no direct connection to the conspiracy itself, Ramsay's close ties with many of the conspirators made him a prime suspect under a renewed investigation and contributed to the ruin of his business. He even went so far as to publicly renounce Catholicism before a royal inquiry, although by then the damage had been done; the family had become irrevocably tainted with the scourge of the failed Plot. Samuel Wainwright, a Protestant jurist and close family friend, promised to intercede to the King on their behalf. But he later betrayed the family, providing forged documents implicating Ramsay in the Plot and in committing blasphemy against the Church of England. Ramsay was immediately imprisoned in the Tower of London, and on August 11th, 1616 he was hung, drawn, and quartered in the public square; later that night, a mob set their Portsmouth residence alight. Upon attempting to flee with the children, Jenna Thennsworth and her two servants were seized, raped, and later butchered in the streets. Five of her eight children followed her into the grave, either captured and murdered by the mob or perishing in the flames. William and two of his siblings were saved by loyal family friends and fled abroad: Francis was sent to live with his estranged uncle Devon in Spanish-controlled Holland, while the other two siblings Henry and Melinda were spirited to America. Life in Exile Fleeing England after the murder of his parents and siblings, William Spencer was sent by a family friend to Amsterdam, where his estranged uncle Devon owned a local print-shop and colonial store. Devon was initially hesitant to adopt his newly-orphaned nephew, as he had been estranged from his brother Ramsay for several decades due to the former's support for the English Crown in spite of Protestant hegemony. Devon, by contrast, had fled England in 1585, hoping to eventually return once a Catholic had been returned to the Throne. He took great issue with Ramsay's persistent loyalty to the Crown, even going so far as to brand him a heretic and accusing him of abandoning the True Faith. The two brothers hadn't spoken since, leaving Devon out of the loop regarding his brother's ultimate fate until his nephew arrived in Amsterdam. Around the time of his brother's execution, Devon had achieved some local prestige as a respected member of Amsterdam's burgher class. He had been an adviser to the fledgling Dutch Republic in its early struggle against Spanish domination and had even smuggled supplies to the Dutch rebels in the southern provinces. Unbeknownst to Francis-or the Dutch rebels-Devon was actually an agent of the Spanish Crown, with his thriving commercial business and English background serving as the perfect cover for a spy within the highest circles of the Dutch resistance in the southern provinces. Despite his initial unwillingness to host Francis given his peculiar position, Devon eventually agreed to adopt his orphaned nephew and take him on as an apprentice. He took responsibility for managing Francis' education, hiring an old Jesuit missionary named Domingo to give him a rigorous Jesuit education. He also employed his personal man-at-arms, Geoffrey, who taught Francis how to wield a sword and fight as a professional soldier. This rigorous regimen of studious education in the day and military training at night shaped Francis into a formidable warrior. Devon was a stern and short-tempered uncle, quick to insult and reluctant to show praise or warmth. He would punish his nephew for the slightest infraction, or reprimand him for skipping his lessons or misspelling words. In contrast, Geoffrey and Domingo were much more gentle and nurturing, often smuggling candied snacks or trading jokes during lessons. First Taste of Combat In the early 1620s, the fledgling Dutch Republic was struggling to free itself from Spanish Rule. As an agent of the Crown, Devon was tasked with keeping tabs on key Dutch resistance leaders and feeding misinformation to the Dutch rebels. In 1624, Devon employed William in a number of special missions, mostly espionage and subterfuge-related. Devon's Death By 1632, the Spanish situation in the Low Countries was getting dire. The resurgent Dutch Republic had crushed the Hapsburg forces in several battles and established breathing room for the Protestant forces in Europe. Meanwhile, Protestant forces had been galvanized by Gustavus Adolphus' intervention the Thirty Years War, forcing the Catholic League to broaden its focus and divert crucial manpower and resources away from the Dutch conflict. Devon, astutely aware of the situation, had made arrangements on moving his household and effects to the staunchly-Catholic stronghold of Tyrol, where he would actively direct efforts to reorganize the Hapsburg-backed forces and repel the Swedish invaders. Unfortunately, this was not to pass. A month before moving, Devon was murdered by Dutch mercenaries while regaling with his fellow Catholic collaborators at a Yuletide feast. William had managed to escape amidst the chaos, only to return after the mercenaries had ransacked the estate and butchered the staff. With his uncle dead and his estate ruined, William Spencer was once again alone. The Events of ''The Company Man Prelude Having fled Ireland after Cromwell's invasion, Spencer and his few remaining men had settled in the Free City of Lubeck in 1654 with his surviving children. Having grown tired of running and fighting across Europe, he resolved to leave the horrors of the Old World behind and start a new life in the New World; the emerging prosperity of Lord Calvert's colony in Maryland offered him a great opportunity to start over, especially given Calvert's fierce protection and support for the English Catholic cause. There was only one problem: the issue money. Due to the collapse of his Company and further financial losses stemming from Cromwell's ascension as Lord Protector, Spencer was bankrupt and unable to purchase any land or titles to support himself and his family. Nearly impoverished, he was forced to sign away his children as indentured servants to finance their trip to the New World, while he remained in Lubeck to raise funds for his own departure. For two years he struggled to acquire the funds, most of which were squandered on bad investments or cheap liquor at Lubeck's fabled beer halls and brothels. In 1660, Spencer received a letter from Sir Edward Heath, an old friend from the English Civil War and a fellow Catholic veteran of the European religious wars. Heath had recently inherited a stake in the burgeoning sugar plantations of the West Indies, as well as a position as the Director of the newly-chartered Royal African Company in Barbados. Capitalizing on this newfound wealth, Heath offered Spencer a contract to defend the prospering colony from slave revolts and train the colonial militia; upon the fulfillment of the contract, Spencer was to acquire a pension from the Royal Company, as well as a lump-sum payment sufficient to finance his trip to Maryland and purchase his children's freedom. Encouraged by this financial miracle, Spencer set about persuading his colleagues to reform their old mercenary band. __FORCETOC__